Hot-weather screenings and other cool things

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Above: Documentary “Girl Rising” will be screened on June 27 at Casino Theater, part of the NewportFILM series.

By Loren King
Globe Correspondent
May 04, 2013

If we go by the Hollywood calendar, rather than the post-Memorial Day, legal-to-wear-white start of summer in New England, the cinematic fun around here begins at 7 p.m. Monday, when the Coolidge Corner Theatre welcomes back the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra with live accompaniment to Buster Keaton’s 1923 comedy “Our Hospitality,”
which starred his wife, Natalie Talmadge. The BSFO students, under the direction of Sheldon Mirowitz and aided by the Berklee College of Music Film Scoring Department headed by George Clinton, have composed and will perform a brand-new score for this classic comedy.

Other events at the Coolidge this summer include two new National Theatre Live presentations: “This House” (May 16 at 7 p.m.), James Graham’s critically acclaimed new political play set in England in 1974; and “The Audience” (June 13, June 25, and July 11 at 7 p.m.), written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Daldry. Helen Mirren reprises her Academy Award-winning role as Queen Elizabeth II in this West End production, broadcast live from London’s Gielgud Theatre. For more information, go to www.coolidge.org.

The Regent Theatre in Arlington hosts the fourth annual Ciclismo Classico Bike Travel Film Festival, a benefit for MassBike, on May 20. It will screen a dozen short films including “The Cycle Bug,” from a wandering cyclist still exploring India; “The Broken Necklace,” a humorous chronicle of an epic journey from Marblehead to Swampscott; and “The New Woman: Annie ‘Londonderry’ Kopchovsky,” the true tale of the 23-year-old Boston mother of three who, back in 1894, attempted to cycle the globe in just 15 months. A reception is at 6 p.m.; films run 7-10 p.m. Details at www.ciclismoclassico.com/filmfest.

Starting May 24, the Brattle Theatre presents the area premiere of “Leviathan,” described as an “immersive documentary that takes you deep inside the dangerous world of commercial fishing.” Directors Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel shot the movie while aboard a commercial fishing trawler. Popular local programs The DocYard and Balagan also return this summer. Information at www.brattlefilm.org.

“48, ” Susana de Sousa Dias’s film about Portuguese political prisoners under the Salazar regime, is at the Harvard Film Archives on May 25.

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The Harvard Film Archive presents “Still Lives: Two Films by Susana de Sousa Dias” May 25-26, with Portuguese filmmaker Susana de Sousa Dias in attendance May 25 at 7 p.m. She’ll introduce “48,” her 2009 film made up of excavated photographs of Portuguese political prisoners taken during the Salazar dictatorship of 1926-1974. The HFA also reprises its successful Raoul Walsh retrospective with Raoul Walsh Encore from May 24-June 2. Details at www.hcl.harvard.edu/hfa.

The first-ever Haverhill Experimental Film Festival, founded by local Haverhill filmmakers Brendan and Jeremy Smyth, brings more than 40 films and videos, including works by local filmmakers Kristin Reeves, Georg Kozsulinksi, and Kathryn Ramey, to downtown Haverhill for a two-day event on June 7 and 8. Details at www.haverhillexperimental.org.

The Provincetown International Film Festival celebrates its 15th year June 19-23. Several “Filmmaker on the Edge” awardees from the past 15 years — the list includes directors John Waters, Mary Harron, and Greg Araki, and producer Christine Vachon — are slated to attend. Waters will also team with director Jeffrey Schwarz to discuss Schwarz’s new documentary, “I Am Divine,” about Waters’s friend and muse. Also confirmed is the East Coast premiere of “I’m So Excited,” the new film from Pedro Almodóvar starring Lola Dueñas, Cecilia Roth, Carmen Machi, and Javier Cámara, with Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz in cameo roles. Details at
www.ptownfilmfest.org.

The Nantucket Film Festival’s 18th edition, running June 26-30, opens with Morgan Neville’s documentary, “Twenty Feet From Stardom,” and closes with David Lowery’s Sundance hit, “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.” David O. Russell, Lake Bell, and Barbara Kopple are the recipients of the fest’s 2013 Screenwriters Tribute on June 29. Details at www.nantucketfilmfestival.org.

Another well-regarded festival celebrating its 15th year is the Roxbury International Film Festival, New England’s largest movie event celebrating people of color, which runs June 27-30. The program includes 35 features and shorts screening at various venues, all under the theme of “Reflections on the Past; Acknowledging the Present; Looking to the Future.” The opening night film at the MFA is Charles Murray’s “Things Never Said,” starring Shanola Hampton (Showtime’s “Shameless”) and Roxbury native Elimu Nelson (Showtime’s “House of Lies”), who will attend. Details at
www.roxburyinternationalfilmfestival.org.

Also turning 18, the Boston French Film Festival plays the Museum of Fine Arts July 11-28, reliably offering a host of features that represent the latest in French cinema.

The MFA then hosts “The Films of Wong Kar-wai” Aug. 1-25: a retrospective of the masterful Hong Kong filmmaker’s works, including “Chungking Express” (1994) and “In the Mood for Love” (2000), starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. For more information, go to www.mfa.org/film.

NewportFILM offers a summer series of documentaries, starting with “The Last Ocean” (May 23, Casino Theater), Peter Young’s journey to the pristine Ross Sea in Antarctica. Also at the Casino is “Girl Rising” (June 27), a chronicle of nine girls from nine countries, written by nine writers and narrated by nine renowned actresses. Among the six to eight documentaries that will screen at sunset at various outdoor locations as part of NewportFILM Outdoors is “Running Wild” (Aug. 8, Newport International Polo Grounds), about a cowboy’s efforts to save wild horses. Director Suzanne Mitchell will be in attendance for a post-film talk. Details at www.newportfilm.com.

The Maine International Film Festival takes place July 13-22 in Waterville at Railroad Square Cinema and Colby College and showcases American independent and international films, visits from Maine and New England filmmakers, children’s films, and arts events for teens. Founded in 1998, the MIFF is a project of the Maine Film Center. Details at www.miff.org.

The 22d Woods Hole Film Festival, the oldest festival on Cape Cod and the Islands, runs July 27-Aug. 3. Over eight days, more than 100 independent and international films from emerging filmmakers will screen in the tiny village within Falmouth. For more information, go to www.woodsholefilmfestival.org.

Known as “Flickers,” the Rhode Island International Film Festival showcases international independent filmmakers Aug. 6-11. It’s also a qualifying event for Oscars. Details at www.film-festival.org.

The KahBang Music, Art & Film Festival is an annual nine-day, multi-venue event held Aug. 8-11 in Bangor, Maine, with more than 50 feature films, documentaries, and shorts. Details at www.kahbangfilmfest.org

The scenic setting of the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival (Sept. 5-8) offers parties and social events along with a host of international films and special guests. Details at www.mvfilmfest.com.

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